Distributor for electric current

ABSTRACT

A distributor for electric current wherein the receptacle comprises a set of insulating walls which define three compartments for ring-shaped conductors. The open sides of the compartments are located at the periphery or at one axial end of the receptacle. The plugs have blades which extend radially inwardly or in parallelism with the axis of the receptacle, and the conductors have axially parallel tongues which extend from the receptacle and can engage complementary terminals in an outlet.

United States Patent Quilez [451 Mar. 21, 1972 DISTRIBUTOR FOR ELECTRIC CURRENT Juan Jose Mas Quilez, Santiago Apostol, 9 l-bis, Hospitaler, Barcelona, Spain Aug. 4, 1969 Inventor:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 2, 1968 Spain .;.....356,838

US. Cl. ..339/20, 339/91 R Int. Cl ..H0lr 9/00, H011" 13/54 Field of Search ..339/20, 21, 36, 91,156,159,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1938 Feuer et al ..339/21 3/1941 Von Rarrel.... ..339/21 8/1951 Bauer ..339/2O I i a s llyk :1

3,125,354 3/1964 Connerat ..339/36 X 3,328,742 6/1967 Hanson ..339/14 1,824,956 9/ l 931 Hubbell ..339/20 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 606,205 3/1926 France ..339/21 S Primary Examiner-Marvin A. Champion Assistant Examiner-Lawrence J. Staab Attorney-Michael S. Striker [5 7] ABSTRACT 1 1 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEU MAR 21 I872 SPEET 1 OF 2 DISTRIBUTOR FOR ELECTRIC CURRENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in devices for distributing electric current from an energy source to one, two or more consumers, for example, to several electric bulbs, lamps or the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a distributor which comprises a receptacle capable of supplying current to a substantial number of plugs provided at the ends of cables which deliver current to light bulbs or other current consuming devices. Such distributor can be utilized with advantage in a floor lamp or in a ceiling lamp wherein the individual bulbs or groups of bulbs can be separately connected to or disconnected from the receptacle. The distributor can be used with equal advantage in industrial installations where a receptacle must supply monophase, biphase or triphase current to a large number of consumers and wherein each such consumer should be readily and rapidly detachable from or connectable to the energy source.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide a distributor for electric current which comprises essentially a receptacle and one or more plugs and wherein the receptacle is constructed and assembled in such a way that it can furnish monophase, biphase, or triphase current to any desired number of consumers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a distributor whose receptacle can be coupled with two or more different types of plugs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a distributor which occupies little room, which can be readily taken apart or assembled by resorting to rudimentary tools and with the exertion of a minimal effort, and which can be used as a superior substitute for presently known distributors.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a distributor wherein the plugs can be inserted into the receptacle from any desired direction, wherein the plugs can be arranged in uniform distribution or in groups, and wherein the plugs are held in current-receiving positions without wobbling to thus prevent heating and/or sparking.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a distributor which can be used in private homes, office buildings and/or industrial establishments and wherein eventual damage to or destruction of a single part does not necessitate discarding of all remaining parts because the defective part can be readily replaced by a spare part with little loss in time.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide a distributor which is of eye-pleasing appearance and which can be furnished in any desired color, combination of colors, size or shape.

The improved distributor comprises essentially a receptacle including a plurality of insulating ring-shaped coaxial walls defining a plurality of ring-shaped compartments and inlet means affording access to the compartments, conductor means including ring-shaped conductors each accommodated in a separate compartment and each having a terminal connectable to the complementary terminal of a source of electrical energy, the conductors being insulated from each other by the walls of the receptacle, and at least one plug preferably having at least two contact blades each separably engaging a different one of the conductors.

An important advantage of the just described distributor is that it may be used for distribution of all types of current, such as monophase, biphase or triphase. If it is used for distribution of monophase, biphase or triphase so that the receptacle accommodates three ring-shaped conductors and each plug can be connected to two phases and neutral, to three phases, or each plug can take current independently from one of the phases and neutral or from either of two phases.

The inlet means may extend circumferentially of the receptacle or it may be provided at one axial end of the receptacle, depending upon whether the compartments are disposed in parallel planes which are normal to the axis of the receptacle or in a common plane but at different radial distances from such axis.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved distributor itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an exploded axial sectional view of a receptacle forming part of a distributor which embodies one form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of a component part of the receptacle as seen in the direction of arrows from the line II- II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of a second part of the receptacle as seen in the direction of arrows from the line lll III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of a third component part of the receptacle as seen in the direction of arrows from the line IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of a fourth component part of the receptacle as seen in the direction of arrows from the lineV-V of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an axial sectional view of the distributor in assembled condition;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the distributor shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a ring-shaped conductor in the distributor of FIGS. 6 and 7; and

FIG. 9 is an axial sectional view of a second distributor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 6 and 7, there is shown a distributor which serves to conduct electric current from an outlet or another suitable source of electrical energy (not shown) to one, two, three or more male electric fittings or plugs 16, 116. The distributor comprises one or more plugs, a female electric fitting or receptacle whose parts are shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, and three ring-shaped conductors 9 one of which is shown separately in FIG. 8.

The receptacle includes a substantially spool-shaped frame which comprises a sleeve 1 having a relatively large flange 2 at one axial end, and a nut 15 which meshes with an externally threaded portion of the sleeve 1. The sleeve 1 is further provided with internal threads which mesh with external threads of a bush 4 which facilitates proper mounting of the receptacle on a post or the like, not shown. The receptacle further comprises a composite insulating socket which includes two ringshaped outer walls 5, 6 and two ring-shaped intermediate walls 7, 8 located between and forming with the walls 5, 6 a stack which is best shown in FIG. 6. Such stack is received between the flange 2 and the nut 15 so that its walls are held against uncontrolled axial movement away from each other. The walls 5 to 8 define three coaxial ring-shaped compartments 45, 46, 47 each of which receives one of three ring-shaped deformable metallic washer-like conductors 9. Each of these conductors has an axially parallel terminal or tongue 10 which extends in parallelism with the axis of the receptacle and through one of three cutouts 3 provided in the flange 2 (see particularly FIG. 2). Each of the three terminals 10 is connectable to the complementary terminal (not shown) of the energy source.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the outer wall 5 is formed with internal notches l 1 each of which registers with one of the cutouts 3 to permit passage of the terminals 10. Such notches need not be provided in the outer wall 6 because the latter is remote from the flange 3 and because the terminals 10 extend upwardly, as viewed in FIG. 1. However, the outer wall 6 can be notched if desired so that the walls 5, 6 can be used interchangeably. The wall 7 is formed with two notches 11, and the wall 8 with a single notch 11.

The walls to 8 are provided with short hubs 12 which abut against each other when the walls are stacked in a manner as shown in FIG. 6. These hubs insure that the walls define the aforementioned compartments 45-47 which should be wide enough to properly accommodate the corresponding conductors 9, preferably in such a way that the conductors are stressed (deformed) and cannot wobble in the fully assembled distributor. The walls 5, 7, 8 are further provided with ringshaped abutments 13 which surround the marginal portions of the respective conductors 9. The socket including the walls 5-8 further defines an inlet 48, here shown as a circumferentially complete opening which surrounds and communicates with the outer ends of the compartments 45-47 and permits insertion or withdrawal of the contacts or blades 17 of the plugs 16, 116. Each of these plugs has a body 16a or 1160 of insulating material which extends into the inlet 48 when the corresponding contacts 17 engage the adjoining conductors 9. As shown in FIG. 6, the contacts 17 of the left-hand plug 116 engage the two upper conductors 9 whereas the contacts 17 of the right-hand plug 16 engage the two lower conductors 9. This is done for the purpose of more uniform distribution of energy. The plugs can be provided with three contacts each of which then engages one of the three conductors 9.

The outer walls 5 and 6 are provided with circumferentially extending coupling portions or beads 18 which are adjacent to the inlet opening 48 and surround relatively shallow ringshaped recesses 19. The body 16a or 116a of each plug is formed with two notches 50, 51 each of which receives a portion of one of the beads 18 to thereby insure that the plugs are properly but separably engaged with the receptacle to prevent sparking, overheating and/or other inconveniences. The coupling portions or lobes 53 on the plug bodies 16a 116a enter the recesses 19 when the corresponding plugs are properly attached to the receptacle. At least one of the end walls 5, 6 (or at least the radially outermost portion of one of these outer walls) is yieldable so that it permits insertion or withdrawal of a plug 16 or 116 with the exertion of a relatively small force.

As shown in FIG. 8, the terminals constitute integral parts of the respective ring-shaped conductor 9. In order to insure that the walls 5-8 can be properly stacked when the conductors 9 are accommodated in the respective compartments 45-47, one hub 12 of each intermediate wall (6 and 7) is provided with a cutout 14 which receives the root portions 100 of the adjoining conductor 9. A similar cutout 14 is provided in the wall 5 (see FIG. 3).

In accordance with a more specific feature of the invention, the distributor further comprises an envelope or shell 20 which surrounds a portion of the receptacle and the nut and has a cylindrical portion 200 formed with a set of suitably configurated apertures 22 which overlie the inlet opening 48 and permit insertion of plugs 16, 116 into the receptacle. The distribution of apertures 22 in the cylindrical portion a determines the distribution of plugs with reference to the receptacle, and the number of such apertures determines the maximum number of plugs which can be separably coupled to the socket including the walls 5-8. A nut 21 is employed to mesh with the bush 4 and to hold the envelope 20 against rotation with reference to the receptacle. By loosening the nut 21, the operator can adjust the positions of apertures 22 with reference to the axis of the receptacle so that the plugs 16, 116

can be inserted from any desired direction. The bodies 116a of v The distributor of FIG. 9 comprises a modified receptacle having a frame including a sleeve 1 with a flange 2'. The

receptacle further includes a one-piece insulating socket 23 having two ring-shaped outer walls 23a, 23b and two intermediate walls 24. The compartments 45', 46', 47' accommodate three concentric ring-shaped conductors 25 having axially extending terminals 26. The lobes of the bodies 164, 116a of plugs 16, 116 extend into the recesses 19' of the outer walls 23a, 23b. The ring-shaped inlet opening 48' is located at one axial end of the receptacle. In this embodiment of my invention, the envelope 20' merely surrounds the outer wall 23!: and is secured to the bush 4' by a nut 21'. The socket 23 is provided with internal threads which mesh with external threads of the sleeve 1'. At least the outer wall 23b is elastic to permit insertion or withdrawal of the plugs 16, 116. The bodies 16a, 116a of the plugs 16, 116 can be segment-shaped so that the receptacle is then capable of supplying current to a larger number of consuming devices. For example, each of the plugs 16, 116 can be connected with a lamp or with the light bulb in one arm of a lamp with several arms.

The inner axial ends of the conductors 25 are preferably held with friction in the corresponding portions of the compartments 4547'. These conductors are sufficiently elastic to insure satisfactory engagement with the contacts 17.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features which fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of my contribution to the art.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A distributor for electric current comprising a receptacle including a plurality of ring-shaped coaxial walls defining a plurality of ring-shaped compartments and inlet means affording access to said compartments; conductor means comprising dished ring-shaped resiliently deformable conductors each accommodated in one of said compartments and each engaging along one endless edge thereof one of said walls defining the respective compartment and inclined continuously from said one endless edge toward the other wall defining the compartment, and a strip-shaped terminal integral with the conductor and projecting from one of said edges in a direction transverse thereto for connection to a complementary terminal of a source of electrical energy, aid conductors being insulated from each other by said receptacle; and at least one plug having at least two contacts each separably engaging an inclined portion of a different one of said conductors.

2. A distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said conductor means comprises three discrete ring-shaped conductors.

3. A distributor as defined in claim 2, wherein at least one of said walls comprises a first coupling portion in the region of said inlet means, said plug further comprising a body having a second coupling portion separably engaging said first coupling portion, at least one of said coupling portions being yieldablc to permit insertion and withdrawal of said body from said inlet means.

4. A distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said inlet means constitutes a circumferentially complete opening and further comprising an envelope at least partially surrounding said receptacle and having a plurality of apertures outwardly adjacent to said opening, said plug further comprising a body extending through one of said apertures.

5. A distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said walls constitute annular disks forming a stack and wherein said compartments are spaced from each other in axial direction of said stack, the contacts of said plug extending substantially radially of said stack.

6. A distributor as defined in claim 5, wherein said walls include two outer walls and wherein said inlet means constitutes a circumferentially complete opening surrounding said compartments.

7. A distributor as defined in claim 6, wherein at least one of said outer walls is provided with a ring-shaped bead adjacent to said opening and said plug further comprises a body having a notch which receives said bead.

8. A distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said receptacle is circular and wherein said terminals extend in parallelism with the axis of and from said receptacle.

9. A distributor as defined in claim 5, and including means for connecting said annular disks of said stack to each other, said connecting means including a sleeve of insulating material extending centrally through said stack, said sleeve having at one end a radially extending flange engaging the disk at one end of said stack and having at the other end an end portion provided with an outer screw thread projecting beyond the other end of said stack, and a nut threadingly engaged with portion of said sleeve is also provided with an inner screw thread and including a bushing threadingly engaged with said inner screw thread for mounting said distributor.

i i F t l 

1. A distributor for electric current comprising a receptacle including a plurality of ring-shaped coaxial walls defining a plurality of ring-shaped compartments and inlet means affording access to said compartments; conductor means comprising dished ring-shaped resiliently deformable conductors each accommodated in one of said compartments and each engaging along one endless edge thereof one of said walls defining the respective compartment and inclined continuously from said one endless edge toward the other wall defining the compartment, and a stripshaped terminal integral with the conductor and projecting from one of said edges in a direction transverse thereto for connection to a complementary terminal of a Source of electrical energy, aid conductors being insulated from each other by said receptacle; and at least one plug having at least two contacts each separably engaging an inclined portion of a different one of said conductors.
 2. A distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said conductor means comprises three discrete ring-shaped conductors.
 3. A distributor as defined in claim 2, wherein at least one of said walls comprises a first coupling portion in the region of said inlet means, said plug further comprising a body having a second coupling portion separably engaging said first coupling portion, at least one of said coupling portions being yieldable to permit insertion and withdrawal of said body from said inlet means.
 4. A distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said inlet means constitutes a circumferentially complete opening and further comprising an envelope at least partially surrounding said receptacle and having a plurality of apertures outwardly adjacent to said opening, said plug further comprising a body extending through one of said apertures.
 5. A distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said walls constitute annular disks forming a stack and wherein said compartments are spaced from each other in axial direction of said stack, the contacts of said plug extending substantially radially of said stack.
 6. A distributor as defined in claim 5, wherein said walls include two outer walls and wherein said inlet means constitutes a circumferentially complete opening surrounding said compartments.
 7. A distributor as defined in claim 6, wherein at least one of said outer walls is provided with a ring-shaped bead adjacent to said opening and said plug further comprises a body having a notch which receives said bead.
 8. A distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said receptacle is circular and wherein said terminals extend in parallelism with the axis of and from said receptacle.
 9. A distributor as defined in claim 5, and including means for connecting said annular disks of said stack to each other, said connecting means including a sleeve of insulating material extending centrally through said stack, said sleeve having at one end a radially extending flange engaging the disk at one end of said stack and having at the other end an end portion provided with an outer screw thread projecting beyond the other end of said stack, and a nut threadingly engaged with said screw thread and abutting against the disk on the other end of said stack.
 10. A distributor as defined in claim 9, wherein the annular disks distant from said other end are each provided at the inner peripheral surface thereof with at least one axially extending notch accommodating the respective terminal, and wherein said flange is provided with a plurality of openings through which said terminals respectively extend in axial direction.
 11. A distributor as defined in claim 9, wherein said end portion of said sleeve is also provided with an inner screw thread and including a bushing threadingly engaged with said inner screw thread for mounting said distributor. 